The International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced that the upcoming ODI series between England and Ireland will mark the beginning of the first-ever ODI Super League.
The England-Ireland ODI series is beginning on the 30th of July with the first game to be played at The Rose Bowl, Southampton.
There will be a total of 13 teams participating in the ODI Super League which will include 12 full members of the ICC and Netherlands.
All the 13 teams will have to play a total of 8 ODI series of 3 matches each, four at home and four away, over the course of the next three years.
The main motive of the ODI Super League is to determine the qualification of the teams to the next ODI World Cup which will take place in India in 2023.
India, being the host country, will directly qualify for the World Cup along with the other top 7 teams in the points table. The teams which finish in bottom 5 will have to play a qualifying tournament with 5 associate nations.
The top two teams from the qualifying tournament will join the other 8 teams in the main draw of the ODI World Cup 2023.
Apart from determining the qualification of the teams to the World Cup, the ODI Super League will also put some much-needed context into the bilateral ODIs which had been losing their relevance for the past some time.
After the coronavirus pandemic, it was believed that ICC might scrap the ODI Super League because of the uncertainty over the schedule of various teams, but the governing body has decided to go ahead with the plan.
“We are delighted to get the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Super League underway with world cup winners England against Ireland,” ICC GM Geoff Allardice said earlier today.
“The league will bring relevance and context to ODI cricket over the next three years, as the qualification for the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 is at stake.” Allardice further added.
